Group Seeks to Challenge Faith-Based Initiatives

Check out this interesting op-ed piece in the NY Times today, on a case being heard in the Supreme Court over Bush's faith-based initiatives.

The question before the court is whether a group seeking to preserve the separation of church and state can mount a First Amendment challenge to the Bush administration's "faith based" initiatives. The arguments turn on a technical question of whether taxpayers have standing, or the right to initiate this kind of suit, but the real-world implications are serious. If the court rules that the group does not have standing, it will be much harder to stop government from giving unconstitutional aid to religion.

Soon after taking office, President Bush established the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, and faith-based offices in departments like Justice and Education. They were intended to increase the federal grant money going to religious organizations, and they seem to have been highly effective. The plaintiffs cited figures showing that from 2003 to 2005, the number of federal grants to religious groups increased 38 percent. The Freedom From Religion Foundation and several of its members sued. They say that because the faith-based initiatives favor religious applicants for grants over secular applicants, they violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits government support for religion.

The Bush administration challenged the right of this organization to sue, trying to prevent them from even having their day in court. Why would they do that? Because, maybe, they realize that these faith-based initiatives are a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars and blatantly violate the separation of church and state. And if this case is eventually heard, it could open up a whole can of worms for the already-beleaguered administration, not to mention pissing off the religious fundies who haven't been too happy with the state of things lately anyway.

More like this

First, there was this awful news about Obama's support of "faith-based programs":
Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is announcing plans to expand President Bush's program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups and -- in a move…

(Note Addendum before commenting, please.)
Is there any candidate who still supports the separation of church and state anymore? Heck, even Barack Obama seems to be pandering to the religious base these days:
CHICAGO -- Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack…

In an otherwise correct piece about the disappointing speech Obama gave about "faith-based" initiatives, PZ concludes by writing:
End the faith-based initiatives. The government should only be supporting programs that work — at least, in my dreams of an efficient administration, anyway.
The problem…

From the time George W. Bush first appeared on the national scene there has been one big question: Does he actually believe all the Evangelical Christian rhetoric he uses, or is he just playing religious voters for fools. As reported last night by Keith Olbermann, it's the latter:
OLBERMANN:…

An interesting study (below) supports my view, that reducing the faith-based initiative will eventually lead to a reduction of religiosity, which so badly needed in the US.

In fact, wasn't it Jefferson that ruled in a case of a Baptist church vs NY State (I am writing from memory, so details may not be correct), that in no case can the public monies be used to support religious charities--despite the fact that those charities actually did good things--because doing so would violate the establishment clause? Interestingly, this case was never mentioned by anyone in this administration. Or not so interestingly, in fact.

Donate

ScienceBlogs is where scientists communicate directly with the public. We are part of Science 2.0, a science education nonprofit operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Please make a tax-deductible donation if you value independent science communication, collaboration, participation, and open access.

You can also shop using Amazon Smile and though you pay nothing more we get a tiny something.

More by this author

Hi everyone, thought I'd drop by and say hello and remind ScienceBlogs (as well as myself) that I do still exist beyond the lab, and have not yet degenerated into a shadowy specter capable only of writing up data in the bowels of the University of Michigan. I have gotten very pale though, so that…

Hi folks. Before you all fall out of your chairs that I am, yes, in fact, blogging, just check out this gem of a story that lured me from the bowels of the UM medical complex. Apparently an African Grey parrot in Japan, a Mr. Yosuke Nakamura, recited his name and address to a vet after he was…

Cristiana Senni from World Parrots Trust just let me know that their organization has uploaded several movies to YouTube of African Grey parrots in the wild. I live with a Grey, and was absolutely amazed at their vocalizations and behaviors--pretty much exactly like Pepper. Reminds me that while…

The Dalai Lama has been making appearances and giving talks in the US, with his most recent talk at the University of Michigan (where I am) yesterday. Although I was unable to attend the actual talk, since the tickets were sold out within an hour of going on sale, his appearance was videotaped and…

Well folks, sorry I've been so AWOL around here lately. Lets just say there's been a lot of long hours in the basement with the confocal microscope, and I've also been in charge of organizing the U of M Neuroscience Spring Symposium, which is next week. I'm super-excited about the three visiting…

More reads

As I write this, I'm told that there are eleven water cannon vehicles heading to the disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, to attempt to cool down nuclear material that is exposed and exuding (I dare not use the word "leaking" lest I be thought an alarmist) radiation at a rate that seems to be as alarming to the engineers and nuclear experts on the scene as it is assuaging to…

Prepare yourself.
The Te Papa Museum of New Zealand has a new specimen locked in a vault: a colossal squid that will be thawed and dissected (they think!) on streaming video.
Here is the necromantic chamber.
Wait! No protective runes, no array of emergency thuribles, no pentagram, no mysterious idols of jade and obsidian? This may not go well.